Buoyant wearing-apparel, cloth, and other article.



K. HARTWIG. l BUOYANT WEARING APPAREL, GLOTH, AND OTHER ARTICLE.

APPLICATION IILED MAY 25, 1911.

Patented Nov. 19, 1912.

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To all whom it may conce-m;

Be it known tlfat l, KARL Hanrwrs, merchant, a subject of the Emperor of Ger-v many, and a resident of Berlin, Germany, have invented certain Improvements 1n Buoyant Wearing-Apparel, Cloth, and other Articles, of which the following is a speciication.

The present invention relates to an arrangement for making wearing apparel, cloth and other articles buoyant and conslsts in the provision between two sheets of any desired flexible material of a layer of kapok or the like, and the open edges of said sheets being sewed, glued or closed in any other suitable manner. rlhe material thus formed may be used, plain or quilted, either as lining for ,various kinds of wearing apparel, coverlets, foot-clothes or the like, or as the main constituent thereof so that these parts' will have a great buoyancy. A. costume made up in this manner possesses such buoyancy in water that a person attired in the same is safefrom sinking.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing in connection with a bathing costume.

The costume a has at one side a slit for the introduction of the buoyant insertion b, shown dotted in the ligure. Press-buttons c or the like are provided for closin the slit.

rlhe kapok or like material is in icated at (Z and is inclosed between suitable fabrics e. I prefer to quilt the kapok and the sheets e, as indicated at f, to prevent displacement and bulging of the kapok, incident to its use in practice. The quilted sheets, with the kapok inclosed therebetween, are then disposed between sheets g of waterproof fabric or like waterproof material and the sheets g are glued or suitably secured along the margins g', in a manner not merely to shed water but to positively exclude water and maintain the kapok in a dry condition.

Kapok, and likewise other inherently buoyant materials, may possibly retain their buoyant properties to a greater or less extent even after being immersed in water, 0r dampened by being thoroughly moistened. However it is well known that repeat-ed soaking in water of such buoyant material, followed by subsequent drying of the same, will gradually and surely impair and decrease its initial buoyant eiiiciency. Especially is this so with a material such as kapok,

Speeication of Letters Patent. appueaawmed may at, 19111 Serenna. ezaoli-4 ed, the material is never soaked Patented New. in, 1912.

which is of a loose fibrous texture and flu-Hy character. -When ykapok is dampened or actually immersed in water,- its iulfy fibers maat and become heavy by reason of the fact that when soaked or molstened the material retains a certain amount of water. Furthermore it requires a comparatively long time to thoroughly dry kapok and where bathing suitsarein continuous service, as at bathing beaches, a great deal of time is required to dry the pads and a correspondingly larger equipment is required. Now by tightly inclosing the initially buoyant ma terlal in a water-tight inclosure, theobjectionable drying operation is entirely avoidbecomes heavy to handicap the user by reason of great weight, and the material'is always maintained in its original fluffy state thereby avoiding all objections on the ground of hygiene.

It is preferable not to stud or pack the material into the inclosure tightly, to completely fill it, in the sense that a mattress is stuffed or filled, because such a form of pad bulges and would project -too far from the body of the user thereby oHering too much resistance tohis progress in the water. 0n the contrary, it has been found in practice, that by maintaining the material in a water-tight inclosure, of kapok can be used and it may be loosely disposed in a relatively large envelop or water-tight inclosure so that the material only partially fills the same thereby forming a exible pad which is relatively reduced in Volume and which readily shapes itself to conform to the ybody of the user and lies snugly thereagainst.

rlhe insertion b is capable of carrying even two persons and is therefore most appropriate as a swimming appliance.

rlhe buoyant material may be applied to all kinds of wearing apparel, such as blouses, jackets, and the like, or any kind of cloth. It may be woven entirely or partly of kapokv or the like.

l claim:

l. iin article of wearing apparel provided with a closable pocket, and a flat rectangular buoyant member adapted for insertion into said pocket and comprising a mass of inherently buoyant material, suitable sheets of fabric inclosing said buoyant material and v being quilted together therewith, and sheets and never a relatively thin `pad of inherentlywater tigh'tmaterial inclosing the quilted fabric sheets and buoyant material, the margins of the water tight ma- 4vterial being connected Water tight, substan- 3 0 of inherently buoyant material of a pliable and loose texture or character and made to form a pad like member, means attached to said member to preventJ bul in and displacementof the mass, and a exible water tight covering inolosing said means and 15 member, substantially as described.

KARL HARTWIG.

Witnesses:

WOLDEMAR HAUPT, HENRY HASPEIL 

